THOUSANDS of students are embarking on the "next big step in their lives" today as the annual exam diet gets under way.

THOUSANDS of students are embarking on the "next big step in their lives" today as the annual exam diet gets under way.

The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) said almost 159,000 candidates will sit more than 700,000 exams over the next six weeks, ranging from Standard Grade to Advanced Higher level.

Today's exams started with Standard Grade Classical Studies, Computing Studies and Economics. The diet concludes on Friday June 8 with Higher Early Education and Childcare.

Candidates will then have to wait about two months until "results day" on August 7, when their marks will be sent to them.

Students can sign up to the MySQA service, which offers them the option of receiving their results through email or text message before 9am on August 7.

SQA said more than 34,000 candidates have already registered for the service, which can be found at http://www.mysqa.info. It must be activated before 5pm on Friday July 20.

Exam timetable builders and study plan apps can be downloaded for free from http://www.sqa.org.uk.

Dr Janet Brown, chief executive of the SQA and Scotland's Chief Examining Officer, said: "Good qualifications are probably more important today than they have ever been.

"Our qualifications genuinely capture and reflect our candidates' skills, and provide for them a pathway to the workplace or further study.

"Today, I send my very best wishes to the thousands of learners who are embarking upon the next big step in their lives and I trust that their hard work and dedication will be rewarded with the results they deserve."